Tamil Nadu gets 525 e-buses, deal for 300 more almost final

CHENNAI: The Union Heavy Industries Ministry sanctioned 525 electric buses for Tamil Nadu on Thursday. Coimbatore, Madurai and Trichy will get 100 buses and smaller cities, including Salem, Erode, Tirupur and Vellore, will get 50 each. Another 25 buses have been earmarked for Thanjavur under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) in India scheme. The first two e-buses in Chennai are all set to be launched this month. These buses are likely to be operated along Thiruvanmiyur-Central Railway Station and Koyambedu-Broadway routes. Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) will operate these buses built by Ashok Leyland, a private automobile manufacturer. Besides, a deal pertaining to procurement of 300 more e-buses through German funding (KfW) has reached the final stage and a formal announcement is likely in three or four weeks. Thursday’s announcement by the Centre was aimed at giving a push to clean mobility in public transportation, said an official release. The ministry had earlier invited proposals from states for deployment of e-buses on an operational cost basis. In response, the ministry received 86 proposals from 26 states/union territories for deployment of 14,998 e-buses. Based on the Project Implementation and Sanctioning Committee’s (PISC) evaluation of proposals, the Centre sanctioned 5,065 e-buses for 66 cities, including 525 for eight cities, the release added. Commenting on the development, a senior Tamil Nadu transport department official said, “This is a breakthrough that will help us in modernising and restructuring our bus fleet.”

On average, cost of an e-bus varies between Rs 1.5-Rs 2 crore depending on the length of the vehicle and the central government is expected to provide Rs 55 lakh subsidy for each of the buses to be procured. But the buses will be owned and run by the respective state transport corporation, the official added. Now, Tamil Nadu has to call for expression of interest (EOI) from manufacturers and choose those which provide the best earnings per kilometre, as per FAME phase II guidelines. As far as the two buses to be launched in Chennai are concerned, body building works are complete and trial runs are underway. These vehicles would be charged at the end of every 12-15 km trip for a short duration.